Hybrid quantum-classical optimization algorithms represent one of the most promising application for near-term quantum computers. In these algorithms the goal is to optimize an observable quantity with respect to some classical parameters, using feedback from measurements performed on the quantum device. Here we study the problem of estimating the gradient of the function to be optimized directly from quantum measurements, generalizing and simplifying some approaches present in the literature, such as the so-called parameter-shift rule. We derive a mathematically exact formula that provides a stochastic algorithm for estimating the gradient of any multi-qubit parametric quantum evolution, without the introduction of ancillary qubits or the use of Hamiltonian simulation techniques. The gradient measurement is possible when the underlying device can realize all Pauli rotations in the expansion of the Hamiltonian whose coefficients depend on the parameter. Our algorithm continues to work, although with some approximations, even when all the available quantum gates are noisy, for instance due to the coupling between the quantum device and an unknown environment.
Measurement of an observable on a quantum system involves a probabilistic collapse of the quantum state and a corresponding measurement outcome. Lüders and von Neumann state update rules attempt to describe the above phenomenological observations. These rules are identical for a nondegenerate observable, but differ for a degenerate observable. While Lüders rule preserves superpositions within a degenerate subspace under a measurement of the corresponding degenerate observable, the von Neumann rule does not. Recently Hegerfeldt and Mayato [Phys. Rev. A, 85, 032116 (2012)] had formulated a proto…
The parameter-shift rule is an approach to measuring gradients of quantum circuits with respect to their parameters, which does not require ancilla qubits or controlled operations. Here, I discuss applying this approach to a wider range of parameterize quantum gates by decomposing gates into a product of standard gates, each of which is parameter-shift rule differentiable.
The quantum Zeno evolution of a quantum system takes place in a proper subspace of the total Hilbert space. The physical and mathematical features of the "Zeno subspaces" depend on the measuring apparatus: when this is included in the quantum description, the Zeno effect becomes a mere consequence of the dynamics and, remarkably, can be cast in terms of an adiabatic theorem, with a dynamical superselection rule. We look at several examples and focus on quantum computation and decoherence-free subspaces.
The evolution of a quantum system undergoing very frequent measurements takes place in a proper subspace of the total Hilbert space (quantum Zeno effect). When the measuring apparatus is included in the quantum description, the Zeno effect becomes a pure consequence of the dynamics. We show that for continuous measurement processes the quantum Zeno evolution derives from an adiabatic theorem. The system is forced to evolve in a set of orthogonal subspaces of the total Hilbert space and a dynamical superselection rule arises. The dynamical properties of this evolution are investigated and sever…
We propose a quantum algorithm for projecting a quantum system to eigenstates of any Hermitian operator, provided one can access the associated control-unitary evolution for the ancilla and the system, as well as the measurement of the controlling ancillary qubit. Such a Hadamard-test like primitive is iterated so as to achieve the spectral projection, and the distribution of the projected eigenstates obeys the Born rule. This algorithm can be used as a subroutine in the quantum annealing procedure by measurement to drive the system to the ground state of a final Hamiltonian, and we simulate t…
The argument of environment-assisted invariance (known as envariance) implying Born's rule is widely used in models for quantum measurement to reason that they must yield the correct statistics, specifically for linear models. However, it has recently been shown that linear collapse models can never give rise to Born's rule. Here, we address this apparent contradiction and point out an inconsistency in the assumptions underlying the arguments based on envariance. We use a construction in which the role of the measurement machine is made explicit and show that the presence of envariance does no…
The lack of superposition of different position states or the emergence of classicality in macroscopic systems have been a puzzle for decades. Classicality exists in every measuring apparatus, and is the key for understanding what can be measured in quantum theory. Different theories have been proposed, including decoherence, einselection and the spontaneous wave-function collapse, with no consensus reached up to now. In this paper, we propose a stochastic dynamics for the wave-function in an open system (e.g. the measuring apparatus) that interacts with its environment. The trajectory of wave…
We propose a measure for the "size" of a Schroedinger cat state, i.e. a quantum superposition of two many-body states with (supposedly) macroscopically distinct properties, by counting how many single-particle operations are needed to map one state onto the other. This definition gives sensible results for simple, analytically tractable cases and is consistent with a previous definition restricted to Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-like states. We apply our measure to the experimentally relevant, nontrivial example of a superconducting three-junction flux qubit put into a superposition of left- an…
In Mod. Phys. Lett. A 9, 3119 (1994), one of us (R.D.S) investigated a formulation of quantum mechanics as a generalized measure theory. Quantum mechanics computes probabilities from the absolute squares of complex amplitudes, and the resulting interference violates the (Kolmogorov) sum rule expressing the additivity of probabilities of mutually exclusive events. However, there is a higher order sum rule that quantum mechanics does obey, involving the probabilities of three mutually exclusive possibilities. We could imagine a yet more general theory by assuming that it violates the next higher…
In this proceedings we present quantum machine learning optimization experiments using stochastic gradient descent with the parameter shift rule algorithm. We first describe the gradient evaluation algorithm and its optimization procedure implemented using the Qibo framework. After numerically testing the implementation using quantum simulation on classical hardware, we perform successfully a full quantum hardware optimization exercise using a single superconducting qubit chip controlled by Qibo. We show results for a quantum regression model by comparing simulation to real hardware optimizati…
In this work we attempt to confront the orthodox widespread claim present in the foundational literature of Quantum Mechanics (QM) according to which 'superpositions are never actually observed in the lab'. In order to do so, we begin by providing a critical analysis of the famous measurement problem which, we will argue, was originated by the strict application of the empirical-positivist requirements to subsume the quantum formalism under their specific understanding of 'theory'. In this context, the ad hoc introduction of the projection postulate (or measurement rule) can be understood as a…
Contextuality and entanglement are valuable resources for quantum computing and quantum information. Bell inequalities are used to certify entanglement; thus, it is important to understand why and how they are violated. Quantum mechanics and behavioral sciences teach us that random variables measuring the same content (the answer to the same Yes or No question) may vary, if measured jointly with other random variables. Alice and Bob raw data confirm Einsteinian non-signaling, but setting dependent experimental protocols are used to create samples of coupled pairs of distant outcomes and to est…
In quantum mechanics without application of any superselection rule to the set of the observables, a closed quantum system temporally evolves unitarily, and this Lorentzian regime is characterized by von Neumann entropy of exactly zero. In the holographic theory in the classicalized ground state, we argue that the unitary real-time evolution of a non-relativistic free particle with complex-valued quantum probability amplitude in this Lorentzian regime can be temporally analytically continued to an imaginary-time classical stochastic process with real-valued conditional probability density in t…
We study the time evolution of two wave packets prepared at the same initial state, but evolving under slightly different Hamiltonians. For chaotic systems, we determine the circumstances that lead to an exponential decay with time of the wave packet overlap function. We show that for sufficiently weak perturbations, the exponential decay follows a Fermi golden rule, while by making the difference between the two Hamiltonians larger, the characteristic exponential decay time becomes the Lyapunov exponent of the classical system. We illustrate our theoretical findings by investigating numerical…
We propose a two-dimensional spectroscopic protocol for measuring the time-dependent coherences between the stationary states of a system induced by a time-dependent system-bath interaction. We also investigate the role of temporally-correlated noise on coherence dephasing. This protocol enables dynamical information about the system and its coupling to the environment to be determined. Our results are based on the quantum-trajectory method, and are obtained from both approximate, analytical and exact, numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. As an example, we show how …
Optimization of unitary transformations in Variational Quantum Algorithms benefits highly from efficient evaluation of cost function gradients with respect to amplitudes of unitary generators. We propose several extensions of the parametric-shift-rule to formulating these gradients as linear combinations of expectation values for generators with general eigen-spectrum (i.e. with more than two eigenvalues). Our approaches are exact and do not use any auxiliary qubits, instead they rely on a generator eigen-spectrum analysis. Two main directions in the parametric-shift-rule extensions are 1) pol…
We present a non-destructive method to probe a complex quantum system using multiple impurity atoms as quantum probes. Our protocol provides access to different equilibrium properties of the system by changing its coupling to the probes. In particular, we show that measurements with two probes reveal the system's non-local two-point density correlations, for probe-system contact interactions. We illustrate our findings with analytic and numerical calculations for the Bose-Hubbard model in the weakly and strongly-interacting regimes, under conditions relevant to ongoing experiments in cold atom…
Measuring Reactive-Load Impedance with Transmission-Line Resonators Beyond the Perturbative Limit
Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Howard University（霍华德大学）；National Institute for Materials Science（国立材料研究所）；RTX BBN Technologies（RTX BBN科技公司）；Northeastern University（东北大学）
